Tuesday, December 3, 2013New watershed district proposed to fight floodingCity officials in Barberton, Norton, and Copley are proposing the Wolf Creek Watershed Conservancy District as best plan to prevent floodingby WKSU's JEFF ST. CLAIR

Reporter / HostJeff St. Clair

Safety crews launch a raft in a flooded section of Barberton in July, 2013. Seventeen straight days of rain overwhelmed flood control efforts across the region. A new watershed district would channel funds to enhance flood protection.

“Barberton is kind of the punch bowl of Summit County, so in the majority of the cases we can deal with the rain that falls on Barberton, but we have four tributaries coming into our city so all that water north and northwest of us flows into Barberton and through Barberton.”

The proposed district would cover 78 square miles of western Summit and eastern Medina counties.

A yearly fee charged to the district’s 41,000 property owners, plus state and federal grants would finance flood prevention efforts.

The new watershed district could take up to two years to start operating.